Drought is a major constraint that limits seed yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). It is important to establish the relative importance many of these drought-related traits for prioritizing their consideration in breeding for drought tolerance improvements. The objective of this study was to categorize the drought tolerant and susceptible chickpea genotypes on the basis of physiological parameters. An experiment was conducted with five chickpea genotypes in field under irrigated and rain fed conditions. Observations were recorded on relative water content (RWC), and the contents of chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoid
(Car), proline (Pro) and protein in the five chickpea genotypes. RWC and contents of Chl, Car and protein decreased under moisture stress, whereas Pro content increased with the increase in moisture stress. Pusa-1108, Pusa-362, Pusa-1103 were able to maintain relatively higher RWC, Chl, Car and protein content and greater Pro accumulation, while Flip 90-166 and SBD- 377 showed comparatively greater decline in the RWC, Chl, Car and Protein and less accumulation of Pro under moisture stress. The data suggest that chickpea genotypes can be categorized into drought tolerant and susceptible types based on the
variations in RWC, Chl, Car, Pro and protein content.